1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to batteries generally and, more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a novel battery that is compact, lightweight, has high power per unit volume, and is especially useful as a seawater battery.
2. Background Art
Seawater batteries are that class of batteries that employ, as the electrolyte therein, seawater in which they are deployed. Such batteries find use in a number of underwater applications, for example, in powering sonobuoys.
Conventional seawater batteries are usually rectilinear in shape with rectangular plates and barriers, the planes of the plates and barriers being vertical. This configuration is disadvantageous in that seawater batteries are typically employed in cylindrical containing structures, particularly for military ocean deployed devices, and the rectilinear shape is volumetrically inefficient.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a seawater battery that is volumetrically efficient.
A further object of the invention is to provide such a seawater battery that is economically and easily manufactured.
An additional object of the invention is to provide such a battery that efficiently controls shunt currents between cells, increasing the battery's performance capability.
Other objects of the present invention, as well as particular features, elements, and advantages thereof, will be elucidated in, or be apparent from, the following description and the accompanying drawing figures.